Separatists in eastern Ukraine declared independence Monday, saying local populations voted overwhelmingly in favor of autonomy a day earlier, and those in Donetsk went a step further and asked to be joined to Russia. Organizers said 89 percent of the vote cast in Donetsk and 96 percent in Luhansk voted for sovereignty from Kiev in a vote denounced as an illegal "farce" by the central government and the West. Russia had no immediate response to Donetsk's request to join Russia, but a statement from the Kremlin urged the Ukrainian government to hold talks with the eastern separatists. The Kremlin's measured response was in sharp contrast to its eagerness to annex Crimea after an independence vote there. Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said, "The farce, which terrorists call the referendum, will have no legal consequences except the criminal responsibility for its organizers."

On a video released by the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram, leader Abubakar Shekau says no one should expect to see the girls his group kidnapped again until Boko Haram's imprisoned fighters are released.
(Boko Haram/AFP/Getty Images)

The Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram released a video Monday showing dozens of the 276 kidnapped schoolgirls it is holding, saying the world will never see them again unless its imprisoned fighters are released. The message from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appears to be more of a taunt that an offer to trade hostages for prisoners. "I swear to almighty Allah you will not see them again until you release our people that you have captured," he says, cradling an assault rifle in his arms. Perhaps 100 barefoot girls are shown sitting on the ground, all wearing the Muslim hijab, though most of them are said to have been Christian. Two of the girls are brought forward and questioned by an unseen man asking, "Why have you become a Muslim?" One girl says nervously, "The reason why I became a Muslim is because the path we are on is not the right path. We should enter the right path so that Allah will be happy with us."

"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius has an anxiety disorder that could help explain why he impulsively fired four bullet through his bathroom door, killing his girlfriend, a psychiatrist testified Monday for the defense in Pretoria. "Overall, Mr. Pistorius appears to be a mistrustful and guarded person," said Dr. Merryll Vorster. She said a series of events in his turbulent life, including the amputation of his lower legs as a baby, his parents' divorce, his late mother's habit of sleeping with a gun under her pillow and his own fear of violent crime contributed to his "increasing stress" and his "many features of anxiety." Prosecutor Gerrie Nels said if that assessment is true, then the runner should be placed under psychiatric observation and evaluation.

An image of Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is pictured with rolling share price information on a digital broadcast on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange Monday. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images)

Vorster said Pistorius' anxiety combined with his physical disability may have caused him to act differently from an average person when he shot four times through a bathroom door early Feb. 14, 2013, killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius, 27, claims he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. Prosecutors say he killed her intentionally after an argument.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has gone on CNN to apologize, but the things he said are only likely to raise more hackles. (Robyn Beck/AP Photo)

As elections wrapped up in India, exit polls indicated that Hindu nationalist opposition leader Narendra Modi was poised to be the next prime minister of the world's largest democracy. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party was expected to do well on its promises of economic growth amid deep dissatisfaction with the Congress Party's 10 years in power. Modi's main rival is Rahul Gandhi, 43, of the famous Gandhi family and vice president of the Congress Party. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center said 63 percent of the population prefers the BJP over the Congress Party.

Los Angeles Clippers owner-for-now Donald Sterling tells CNN's Anderson Cooper that he's not a racist and was "baited" into making the racist comments that got him banned from the NBA for life. "I'm not a racist," he says in an interview taped Sunday for release Monday. "I made a terrible mistake. I'm here to apologize." He then goes on to blame V. Stiviano, his one-time mistress, for making him say the things he said when he asked to stop bringing black men to basketball games and posting pictures of herself with them on Instagram. "I don't know why the girl had me say those things," Steling said. "You're saying you were set up?" Cooper asked. "Well, yes, I was baited. That's not the way I talk," he said. Some of Sterling's oddest remarks were about basketball great "Magic" Johnson, who appears in one of the pictures with Stiviano. He said he had talked to Johnson, and Cooper asked him twice if he apologized to him. Sterling said: "Well, if I said anything wrong I'm sorry. He's a good person and he ... what am I gonna say ... has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don't think so. But I'll say it, I'll say it, you know, he's great. But I just don't think he is a good example for the children of Los Angeles." And, uh, you are?

The Wire, a summary of top national and world news stories from the Associated Press and other wire services, moves weekdays. Contact Karl Kahler at 408-920-5023; follow him at twitter.com/karl_kahler.